Commercial peanut shelling operations today create large quantities of peanut hulls. Since the sale of the hulls has not usually proven to be profitable, a percentage of shells have normally been disposed of, as by incineration, which produces air borne pollutants that degrade the atmosphere, or by dumping with its problems of continuous accumulations.
There are some situations where peanut hulls are sold on a limited basis as an economical by-product of the shelling operation rather than discarded or processed as waste. Heretofore, these have primarily been limited to the use of peanut hulls for litter, as filler in artificial fireplace logs, and as cattle feed roughage. These limited usages however place demand far below shell availability.
It has also been known that peanut hulls have the potential for profitable commercial use in other applications. This is attributable to their chemical inertness property which renders them suitable as carriers for pesticides and fertilizers. Their high liquid absorbing property also renders them potentially suitable for use in a number of industrial processes as moisture absorbent agents.
Attempts at transforming peanut hulls into masses of size and weight suitable for use as chemical, i.e. pesticide and fertilizer carriers and absorbent agents have been beset with problems. Foremost among these has been the creation of dust as the hulls are reconfigured as by milling and pelletizing. The resulting granules have also been too light in weight for these targeted usages, and have had variable moisture levels.